There are many that I wasn't terribly keen on (some vintage or other of Opus One which tasted like a decent 10€ Merlot) but since they were drinkable, I won't say that I hated them. Maybe I'll say Montrose 2003 (well north of 100€ but don't know how much exactly) since it was sickeningly sweet and confected and smelled like banana bread. Shudder.

-O-

I don't drink wine because of religious reasons ... only for other reasons.

As being discussed in the "trophy" thread, young Grange is right up there! And, among the cultish California wines that have failed to impress my taste buds, Marcassin and Sine Qua Non rank close to the top.

Not that I'd ever buy any of that stuff myself, mind you ... Probably my least happy experience when I was buying was a Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Gewurz, purchased 15 or 20 years ago for a Thanksgiving dinner, a major step in my realization that "Parker 100" does not necessarily mean nectar.

Good cheapie: Baroja Seleccion Rioja (sometimes on sale for about $7 or so)

Not my style although very pricy: high end reds from Jumilla, Spain.

Also disliked a very barnyardy or bretty Chateauneuf du Pape (I can take a little Brett.)

I still don't know whether I like Barolos or not because the ones I have had the opportunity to try were too young and tannic. I suspect I might liked a properly cellared one just as I like some mature Cabernet Sauvignon wines.

Great question! I rarely drink wines over $40 or so, but sometimes I get a taste. I guess it would be the 1985 Groth Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon. California. That was current retail $400 bottle of wine that I probably would have finished if I had paid $10 for it. Simple, too minty, though good fruit especially for its age. I'm supremely happy to have tasted it, though, it gives you perspective that there's way more variation in personal taste than absolute quality.

The 2005 Two Buck Chuck is well above just "drinkable," as have been numerous $2 wines I've picked up at the Grocery Outlet.

Thanks for the offer but I actually did not buy that wine. It was a good friend that offered me a pour. I'm not in the practise of tasting this type of wines but it was very nice. Thanks for the offer though.

Thanks for the offer but I actually did not buy that wine. It was a good friend that offered me a pour. I'm not in the practise of tasting this type of wines but it was very nice. Thanks for the offer though.

Damn, I thought I had found a pigeon that would pay some outrageous price for that wine.
Well I guess I'll just have to sit down with Hoke some night & light up a good cigar with a 20 dollar bill and drink the 97 Harlan. Damn again, neither one of us smoke cigars.

Robin Garr wrote:Probably my least happy experience when I was buying was a Zind-Humbrecht Clos Windsbuhl Gewurz, purchased 15 or 20 years ago for a Thanksgiving dinner, a major step in my realization that "Parker 100" does not necessarily mean nectar.

Robin,

Sorry to hear you had to pay for that awful experience. I had the misfortune to taste another Parker 100 Z-H Clos Windsbuhl Gewurz (might even have been the same vintage), but fortunately on someone else's dime. It is one of very few wines I've ever tasted that was so deficient in acidity that it was a downright fault. The wine was an absolute fruit bomb--all the volume knobs turned to 11--but completely devoid of acidity. It was beyond cloying. Trying to drink it was an unpleasant chore.

I've drunk many a Sauternes or BA or TBA or Tokaji Eszencia that was unbelievably sweet and fruity, but with balancing acidity that made it dance on the palate and just throw off bright sparks of brilliant flavors, and just go on and on and on in a finish that you don't want to end.

In contrast, the Z-H was like a sumo wrestler doing a belly flop on the palate.

I don't really hate many wines that I try, and now I avoid those wines that I probably would hate. So, the most expensive wine that I actively disliked was probably a corked bottle of Perrier-Jouet Fleur du Champagne at a big tasting 1-2 years ago.

Within the last couple of weeks, a very late guest to dinner brought maybe 600 ml of a 2005 Ramonet Montrachet from a tasting. I don't know how much it costs--$1200 for a 750?

But I didn't really want to finish my glass, and neither did most of my guests. When critics compare high end California chardonnay to Montrachet, this was the wine they had in mind--oaky, structureless, bleh.

Thanks for the offer but I actually did not buy that wine. It was a good friend that offered me a pour. I'm not in the practise of tasting this type of wines but it was very nice. Thanks for the offer though.

Damn, I thought I had found a pigeon that would pay some outrageous price for that wine. Well I guess I'll just have to sit down with Hoke some night & light up a good cigar with a 20 dollar bill and drink the 97 Harlan. Damn again, neither one of us smoke cigars.

Damn, Thats the nicest thing anyones said about me today...

I think that when the authorities are warning us young people about worrisome lurkers on the internet, they may have been referring to you

Thanks for the offer but I actually did not buy that wine. It was a good friend that offered me a pour. I'm not in the practise of tasting this type of wines but it was very nice. Thanks for the offer though.

Damn, I thought I had found a pigeon that would pay some outrageous price for that wine. Well I guess I'll just have to sit down with Hoke some night & light up a good cigar with a 20 dollar bill and drink the 97 Harlan. Damn again, neither one of us smoke cigars.

Damn, Thats the nicest thing anyones said about me today...

I think that when the authorities are warning us young people about worrisome lurkers on the internet, they may have been referring to you

The palm in white goes to Nicolas Joly's Savennières Clos de la Coulée de Serrant (never had one I didn't find musty and faulty), in red to Biondi-Santi's Brunello (never had one that wasn't deprived of fruit and showed a level of acidity some ZH's Gewurzes would dream of).

1996 Peter Michael Les Pavots. Opened this earlier this year. The wine just literally dies in the mid-palette, clipped with no aftertaste at all. There was nothing wrong with the initial taste as long as you are o.k. with the bigger Cal Cab flavor profile. Not worth the $60 I paid for it years ago much less the $160 it goes for today.

Almost any contemporary "Bordeaux" (the quotes are necessary, since I believe proper Bordeaux is rarely made in that region anymore). Dishonorific mentions to Pavie since 2000, Pape-Clément since 1998 (The horror! The betrayal! To think that this house, maker of one of the greatest clarets of yore, is now a Rollandized den of spoofulation!), anything made by anyone calling him or herself (or being called by any number of rags) a garagiste, but especially the loathsome Valandraud... I could go on. But you get the picture.

Harlan. Screaming Eagle. Any number of other California Cult Cabs. Almost all California "Pinot Noir", with a special dishonorable mention to... Well, never mind. Remember http://www.wineloverspage.com/user_submitted/wine_notes/tn_280587.html? It's only gotten worse. There's Kosta Browne now. And some other winemakers admitting they've picked Pinot at 33 Brix...

Termanthia. And while we're at it, Pingus. And the new Vega Sicilias. Sorry to the guy above who liked it, but that '94 is no longer "Único", but rather a nasty drop of point-seeking oak juice. IMHO, of course. And that Aro stuff from Muga. And Aalto PS.

Any number of "Modernist" Baroli. Crapoli.

I won't even go into Australia, or any of those pricier varietally-correct (as long as we're talking varieties of oak) Argentinians and Chileans.

None! You don't know any good people. Now go back to watching your children.[/quote]

That is heartening, Lou. Of course, I meant those I don't know. Since becoming a father, I've been so removed and so many fine new names have popped up all over the wine internet that I can't help but wonder...